Capitals out: How the season slipped away and what the future may bring
The first division champion has fallen in the 2020 NHL playoffs.
The Washington Capitals failed to advance past the round of 16 for the second year in a row, dropping Game 5 against the New York Islanders on Thursday night by a final score of 4-0. The series, in general, wasn't pretty.
Here's how it all went down for Washington, and what might be in store this offseason from general manager Brian MacLellan and Co.:
How the season slipped away
Well, technically, you can't say they didn't go down without a fight.
The Capitals did, in fact, win one game in this series. But that was off the back of two strong periods, not a full-out display of their true potential. Two 20-minute stretches of productive hockey were all they could muster in five games.
"They scored, we didn't," Caps captain Alex Ovechkin told reporters postgame, successfully summing up the series in as few words as possible.
"Over these five games," teammate Nicklas Backstrom added, "they wanted it more than us. You can see that, overall."
Under former Caps coach Barry Trotz's guidance, New York stymied the second-best attack of the 2019-20 regular season by limiting Washington to eight goals. Ovechkin, one of just a few Capitals who looked fully engaged for the entirety of the series, potted four goals, accounting for half of the offense. T.J. Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov bagged two apiece, meaning there was nil from everyone else, including key contributors Tom Wilson, Jakub Vrana, and Lars Eller, who combined for 62 goals this season.
The vaunted Caps power play, led by Ovechkin and stud defenseman John Carlson, did all right, pitching in four goals on 18 opportunities. It was at even strength where coach Todd Reirden's squad really struggled - and the problems began in a 1-1-1 round robin. In eight total games, the Caps managed just 52.4 shot attempts per 60 minutes of even-strength action to rank 19th among 24 teams. Contrast that with the regular season, when they recorded 59.7 attempts per 60 to rank sixth among 31 teams, and it's as if a different group of guys was involved in the restart.
The heat map below, courtesy Natural Stat Trick, illustrates the even-strength battle. While Washington allowed New York to enter its high-danger area fairly often, the Isles did everything in their power to keep the Caps from entering their slot and crease areas, as shown by the blue and red blobs.
Not only did the Caps struggle to get good looks in the offensive zone, but they also failed to get enough traffic in front of Isles goalie Semyon Varlamov, who has a sparkling .934 save percentage in nine games. There was a general lack of urgency to the Caps' attack. They lost too many one-on-one battles and didn't seem to have their usual confidence. Some of that malaise can be traced back to Trotz and his soldiers playing to their identity as a structured, disciplined, and soul-sucking hockey team. Most of it, though, is on the Caps.
"This is not acceptable for our organization," Reirden said of the early exit.
Vrana, for one, was ineffective. Kuznetsov was inconsistent. Eller - tasked for bulk of the series with filling in at second-line center for a concussed Backstrom - was essentially a non-factor. Ilya Kovalchuk was virtually invisible. Ditto for Carl Hagelin. Again, props to the Isles for playing the part of a suffocating defensive outfit. Kudos all day. But the list of poor performers on the Caps is way, way too long for such a veteran, tested crew.
Caps defenseman Brenden Dillon put it best during a second-intermission TV interview in Game 4. "It took us 10 periods to get going in this series," he said. And then, ironically, they reverted back to their old ways two days later.
Now it's time to go home. The season's over.
What the future may bring
Will this be an offseason of change in D.C.?
The answer, it would appear, is both "yes" and "maybe/maybe not."
It's highly unlikely that pending unrestricted free agent Braden Holtby, who's been a linchpin for the Caps for a decade and backstopped the club to a Stanley Cup in 2018, re-signs this fall. He's all but gone to a team desperate for goaltending. Ilya Samsonov, injured right now, should slide into the starter's role no problem, so, aside from the sentimental loss, it could be a smooth transition.
As for Reirden's job security, that's a toss-up. He just got schooled by Trotz - his mentor and the man the organization parted with because of money after the Cup win - plus the Caps have now lost 10 of 15 postseason games under his watch. This is a results business.
Reirden was an inside hire by MacLellan. Perhaps the GM uses this opportunity to look outside the confines of Capital One Arena for a different voice and tactician as the team looks to recalibrate for the 2020-21 season.
Conversely, there is a chance MacLellan views the early exit as simply a bump in the road. We are in the middle of a pandemic. Backstrom missed most of the series. Carlson was coming off an injury. Eller wasn't up to speed after temporarily exiting the bubble. There's a built-in rationale.
Another consideration that could point to minimal change in Caps land: The team has a ton of veterans locked up. Ovechkin is around for at least another year; Wilson's under contract for four more; Backstrom, Oshie, and Kuznetsov all have five years remaining; and Carlson has six seasons left.
With an average age of 29.2, the Caps were tied with the Dallas Stars as the oldest team ahead of restart action. They're going to be forced to get creative in an evolving division. Competition in the Metro is fierce. The Penguins also left the Toronto bubble with a sour taste in their mouths. The Flyers look formidable in the restart. The Hurricanes boast an enviable roster. The Blue Jackets are proving doubters wrong again and again. The Rangers are rising fast. And, of course, the Islanders continue to win under Trotz.
Keep your eyes on the Caps - namely MacLellan - in the near future.
John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.